Level the Rockies? Only if Summers is right on stagnation, Bernanke quips Former Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke uses his second blog post to pick apart Larry Summer’s argument that the U.S. is stuck in secular stagnation.

City-by-city look at house prices: San Francisco stumbles, San Diego climbs Here’s a city-by-city look at home prices, after the S&P/Case-Shiller 20-city composite showed no change in January and a yearly gain of 4.6%.

Indianapolis Star turns front page into a powerful protest ‘religious freedom’ law ‘Indiana is in a state of crisis,’ says the paper Indiana’s biggest daily newspaper turns its front page into a powerful protest against a controversial “religious freedom” measure.

U.S. home prices steady in January, Case-Shiller data show WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- U.S. house prices were steady in January, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller 20-city composite released Tuesday, with Charlotte, Miami and San Diego all seeing gains of 0.7% while San Francisco prices fell 0.9%. On a seasonally adjusted basis, prices grew 0.9%. Compared to Jan. 2014, prices were up 4.6%. "The combination of low interest rates and strong consumer confidence based on solid job growth, cheap oil and low inflation continue to support further increases in home prices," said David M. Blitzer, chairman of the index committee for S&P Dow Jones Indicies, in a statement.

Four things you need to know about ‘China’s World Bank’ With Tuesday marking the deadline for nations wishing to join as “founding members” of China’s new Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, here are the four things you need know about the AIIB.

China stocks gain as more real-estate curbs lifted HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- Hong Kong and Shanghai stocks added to recent gains Tuesday morning, as property shares jumped after the Chinese central bank and top real-estate and financial regulators unveiled policies to support the declining housing market. The Hang Seng Index rose 0.3%, with the mainland-China-tracking Hang Seng China Enterprises Index up 1.5%. The Shanghai Composite Index added 0.5%. The advance for mainland real-estate stocks came after announcements of the new policies, including a measure to lower the minimum down payment for second-home buyers, the first such cut in five years. Separately, the Ministry of Finance issued a directive to ease the housing tax, saying that individuals would be exempt from business tax for selling a house which they have owned for more than two years. Hang Seng Index component China Resources Land Ltd. jumped 3.8%, while Greentown China Holdings Ltd. soared 5.8%, Evergrande Real Estate Group Ltd. surged 4.6% despite posting a small drop in profit for 2014, Sunac China Holdings Ltd. climbed 3.6%, and China Vanke Co. gained 2.7%. Chinese banks also advanced broadly, with China Minsheng Banking Corp. rising 2.7%, Bank of China Ltd. up 1.6%, China Merchants Bank Co. adding 1.5%, and Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. higher by 1.1%. Online major Tencent Holdings Ltd. continued to climb, trading 2% higher. Brokerage firms gained after China's securities regulator approved allowing mainland mutual funds to directly invest in Hong Kong shares via the Hong Kong-Shanghai Stock Connect. Among them, Haitong International Securities Group Co. improved by 2.8%, Guotai Junan International Holdings Ltd. tacked on 1.6%, and China Everbright Ltd. moved up 1.1% after reporting a sharply higher profit for last year.

China pulls down more real-estate-market curbs SHANGHAI--China is ramping up efforts to support its flagging housing market in a new sign that Chinese leaders are worried about economic growth. Buyers of second homes would be required to make a minimum down payment of 40%, down from the previous 60%, as part of efforts to encourage upgraders to take the plunge, the People's Bank of China, the housing ministry and the banking regulator said in a joint statement.

Pending home sales in February climb to 20-month high WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Pending home sales in February reached their highest level since June 2013, a trade group said Monday. The National Association of Realtors said its pending-home-sales index rose 3.1% to 106.9 after a downward revision to January's numbers. The index is up 12% from February 2012 levels. A sale is listed as pending when the contract has been signed but the transaction has not closed. Total existing-homes sales in 2015 are forecast to be around 5.25 million, an increase of 6.4%, and the national median existing-home price is expected to increase around 5.6%.

U.K. mortgage approvals rise to six-month high LONDON--The number of new home loans approved in the U.K. rose in February to its highest level in six months, suggesting the British housing market may be ready to rally again after cooling in the final months of 2014.

10 things the police won’t tell you Police officers can have an uneasy relationship with those they are tasked with protecting. This tension became a national conversation last summer when a white police officer shot and killed an unarmed African-American in Ferguson, Mo.

The U.S. economy is about to pull itself out of this slump Warmer weather, confident consumers and optimistic small businesses will put this behind us Warmer weather, confident consumers and optimistic small businesses will put this behind us, argues Rex Nutting.

Three reasons I shorted housing There is a large contingent in the market-commentary community that is high on housing right now, but we believe there are a number of reasons for concern in the bigger picture.

Corporate profits fall for first time since 2008 as GDP stays at 2.2% Consumers in the waning months of 2014 spent the most on services including health care in 14 years and exports were also stronger, but companies built inventories at a slower pace than originally reported to keep fourth-quarter U.S. growth at 2.2%.

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